Some people like to dip their toes in the water. Some people like to dive right in. I decided to take a deep breath, and dive headfirst into a vegan lifestyle. There are many different reasons to go vegan. Some are obvious, such as saving animal’s lives. Some are less obvious, like the face that you save tons of water, grain, forested land, oceans, and much more when you eat vegan. When it comes down to it, there are tons of benefits and positive changes that arise out of a vegan lifestyle, and no downsides. To learn more in depth about veganism, try watching a documentary such as Cowspiracy or Earthlings- respectively they each have a wealth of information about the moral, ethical, and environmental side of veganism. Speaking strictly on the health aspects of veganism, it is a huge lifestyle change to go from eating meat to being vegan. It has been one month of eating vegan for me now, and I can truly say that it has been harder mentally than it has been physically. You have to change your way of thinking, and learn to look at things for what they truly are rather than what you have been raised to think. There are many sources of protein that don’t come from an animal, and that can be a big hurdle to get over. We’ve been trained to think that animal protein is necessary for human life, when in reality it isn’t. From birth, we are told things such as “3 A Day Of Dairy” and taught that this is ‘healthy’, ‘natural’, and ‘necessary’. The cold, hard, truth is that it is completely unnatural for a species to drink the milk of another species. Milk and milk products come from an impregnated cow, and is meant for a baby calf. It contains natural hormones meant for a baby cow to grow and develop. In no way is dairy meant for humans, and humans are the only animals that attempt to drink the milk of a different species. Once you are able to look at things like this more objectively, you realize that we are trained to think certain things are normal when they really aren’t. It can be hard to re-wire your thought process, but it only takes a little time to start looking at things as they really are. The first two weeks of going vegan were the hardest for me. My skin started breaking out abnormally, I was bloated, and I experienced regular headaches- all signs of my body detoxing as it was taking a break from processing meat and animal products. I was freaking out a little about these negative side affects, questioning whether veganism was for me and whether it would be something helpful and positive. I was also very aware of the changes I was making, and built them up in my head to be harder than they really were. It is a big change to make, but what I wasn’t realizing was that it was also completely doable, completely within my reach. After a few more weeks, I am past the point of my body reacting to such a drastic change in a negative way. My skin has quickly cleared up, my body isn’t holding onto bloat, and I already have more energy than before. It’s only the beginning of my vegan journey, but I am so happy to continue down this path, to learn and grow more, to see the positive effects this will have on my body, my mindset, my health, and my life. Follow my journey and learn more through my posts!
|
|
RSS Feed
